Exactly not a Fairytale
by coyotegrrrl18
Summary: Holly gets a call from Oliver to help with Gail


Gail was dying. She couldn't breathe, or open her eyes, and there was a pounding heaviness in her chest. Cold metal bit into the heat of her cheek. It was dreadfully uncomfortable, but she welcomed it. She could hear footsteps approaching her again, marching toward her at a rapid pace even though she knew they were too late. There were two of them this time.

"Thanks for coming Darlin'!" Oliver's voice floated above her somewhere.

"It's ok. But you know we're not…" Holly's soft voice answered

"I know. And I'm sorry. But with everything else going on I just didn't know who else to call." He continued, " She's not the easiest person to handle you know…"

Holly snorted.

"You cambe! I wundded to tell you…" Gail moaned into her desk without opening her eyes, "Bud you cambe to say goodbye…"

Holly sighed, "No Gail, I came to take you home and put you to bed."

Gail moaned, and tried to speak, but ended up coughing thickly into the sleeve of her uniform. She hacked up another disgusting yellow piece of her lung and spit it into the tissue Oliver handed to her.

"Gail." Holly sighed, tugging gently at Gail's shoulder, "Come on, let's get you out of here…"

"I'mb _dying_ Holly!"Gail whined dramatically, rolling over slightly to look at Holly through the slits of her eyes.

"You are not dying, Gail." She was trying to sound patient, and knew she was failing.

"Don'dt letd me gib you duh Blag Deat! Run! Sabe yourself!" Gail moaned.

"You do not have the Plague, Gail! But you have a bad cold, and you need to go home." Holly started to laugh softly. She knew she shouldn't, but Gail was so adorable she couldn't help herself.

"You don'dt know dat! It all starts wid flu-like simdoms Holly!" She tried to glare, but it didn't quite have the effect she was looking for, and pointed to her computer screen where pages from the CDC and Web-MD were prominently displayed.

"I'll take my chances." Holly chuckled, "Let's go before you infect the rest of the precinct with whatever it is." Holly managed to get her to her feet.

"Thanks Darlin'!" Oliver said, "Will you be at her place or yours? Celery said she would be happy to pick up Gail's stuff and bring it to her with some kind of healing tea."

Holly sighed. She knew she should just take Gail to the frat house she called home, but she didn't want her to be alone. Why did she have to love Gail so much?

"We'll probably be at my place Oliver. Thanks! I'll let you know." She replied.

The cool glass passenger window of Holly's car soothed Gail's aching head as they pulled out of the parking lot. She felt pathetic. Hot silent tears slid down her cheeks. She was exhausted, spent both physically and emotionally. After the disaster with Holly's friends, they hadn't spoken in over a week. And now that Holly was here, she begrudgingly had to admit to herself how much she had missed her. God she felt like crap!

After a while she felt the car stop, even though the world was still spinning. Holly got out and came around to open her door as well. It wasn't until they were up the stairs and Holly was gently easing Gail out of her uniform and into the clean sheet of her guest bed that Gail's mind caught up with where she was.

"Whabt are we doingk here?" Gail asked through the thick fog surrounding her head.

"Shhh, Honey. Get some rest." Holly answered softly, handing Gail a bunch of pills and a glass of water.

"Whabt's dis?" Gail mumbled after taking them, as Holly tucked her into bed.

"Just a decongestant, and some ibuprofen." Holly smiled at her, placing a box of tissues next to her on the bed. "Now go to sleep!" Holly kissed her on the forehead. She closed her eyes, and just like that she was out.

It was dark, and she couldn't move! She was alone. She couldn't breath and her head was pounding. Panic was starting to set in. She tried to move but her body wouldn't respond! She knew he was going to come for her again and all she could do was wait and listen for his footsteps on the stairs. A door opened. She had to escape! She sat up suddenly with a gasp and a muffled scream. Suddenly the bed dipped under the weight of someone next to her. Soft, cool hands touched her face, tenderly wiping her sweaty bangs from her eyes.

Holly. Thank God!

Holly pulled her into an embrace, making soothing patterns on her back with delicate fingers, and rocking her gently as she cried and struggled to breathe.

"Shhhh," Holly soothed into her ear, "Shhhh, you're ok, you're ok. You're safe…"

She started to cough again as they pulled apart. She knew she would normally be embarrassed, but she simply felt to shitty for that. She blew her sore nose into the tissue Holly handed her, and let Holly wash her face with a cool damp cloth.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" She finally rasped, when she caught her breath and could speak.

"I care about you Gail." Holly shrugged, "And you're sick, and you needed someone to take care of you."

"Why would you do that?" Gail asked bitterly, "I mean you're only in this for fun."

"Gail…" Holly replied, sadly.

"No, really. I mean what are you doing Holly? Racking up some kind of points for big gay martyrdom?" She snapped back. "You know I appreciate it and all, but I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself!"

"Gail…" Holly stared at the floor, trying to blink back the tears and swallow the boulder she suddenly found in the back of her throat.

She took a deep shaky breath and looked up at Gail. Even as sick as she was, she was so beautiful! Holly felt her entire chest constrict at the thought of losing her. "Gail…" She began again.

"What." Gail coughed and looked away.

"I never wanted to hurt you." Holly sighed, "And sometimes Lisa can be a real jerk! And it isn't the way it sounded… you know? Look… we tell each other things, I mean… That's what's so great about us… And I don't know…"

She was starting to panic now, as Gail looked unimpressed.

"I never thought you would… you know… feel things… for me… And every time…" She licked her dry lips, "Every time I'm with you I can't believe just how lucky I am…"

Gail turned sharply to look at her then.

"How lucky I am that you would want to be with someone like me…" Her hands were flailing wildly, "And I don't know why you would give me another chance…

She took a deep breath and felt the weight of Gail's stare, "But I said we were having fun because I was afraid to tell you the whole truth…"

She closed her eyes briefly to collect her courage before reaching out to touch the side of Gail's face.

"I have missed you so much!" She whispered, "And I don't know what I'm going to do without you."

"You don't?" Gail asked softly.

"No. I don't." Holly could feel herself shaking. "I don't because… well… because I'm afraid I've fallen in love with you." She had to look away, to look anywhere but at Gail.

"You have?" Came the barely audible reply.

"Yeah. I have." Holly could feel the tears starting to form as an aching pressure behind her eyes.

Suddenly Gail's hands were cradling her face, and Gail's lips were crashing into hers in a desperate, searing kiss, which stopped as abruptly as it began. Gail pulled away blushing.

"I'm sorry." Gail said shyly, "We shouldn't be doing that."

Holly felt her heart start to sink again.

"I mean, I don't want to make you sick too!" She added quickly as she saw the disappointment on Holly's face.

"Oh." A grin began to spread across Holly's lips.

"Holly." Her eyes were soft, and vulnerable, and the color of the blue sky at dawn.

"Yes Gail."

"I'm sorry I ran. I wanted to tell you, and then I overheard you talking with your friends. And it made me sad because, you see, I never thought you thought I was unintelligent, I never thought you only liked me because of the way I look, I never thought I was falling in love by myself… until then." Gail sighed and closed her eyes against the pain, " Until then I thought I could see a better version of myself reflected in your eyes, and it made me want to be that person for you Holly."

"You were falling in love?" Holly gaped.

"Yes."

"With me?" She whispered, overwhelmed by emotion at the thought that Gail might be as serious about her as she was about Gail.

"Yes." Gail said softly.

"And you still love me?" Holly's heart was beating wildly against her ribs.

"Yes."

"Good." Holly whispered back, her fingertips ghosting along the underside of Gail's jaw, their foreheads barely touching.


End file.
